Whose Job is it Anyway?

I have never been one to reject a task simply because it wasn't my job. In fact, I have sometimes gotten myself into trouble because I put my two cents worth where it didn't belong. After all, that propensity for overstepping my bounds is the reason for the title of this blog.

I am taking this a step farther now though, because I am sick and tired, tired and sick, of people who won't do their own jobs, let alone tackle one that cries out for an owner.

I will be hard-pressed to provide an example without revealing the object of my ire, so I will tackjle this a bit differently. I know people who will refrain from responding to an email because their delay will force another to co-opt the task. Knock it off, I say. The email was sent to you because you are the one, or one of the ones, who can further a process, approve a decision, or stop a mistake from happening. Do your job!

Directly related to this is the person who deliberately does only half of his job, thereby shielding himself from full responsibility. Again, providing specific instances promises to create more problems than its worth, so generalities will have to do. And to be honest, specifics aren't really necessary. The delay-ers and half-hearted dally-ers now who they are, and so do you.

Nothing is worse than being the next person in the information chain, knowing that the adjacent link is dawdling, waiting for someone to snatch responsibility away. I suppose that is an offshoot of the other point of complaint, the CYA colleague. You know the guy, his first and primary concern is making certain that he didn't make the mistake. These poeple see the potential for blame in every action they take, and some are rendered catatonic by the prospect of being held accountable for --- anything.

I know this has been generic and probably somewhat bland, but I am relying on the idea that the reader knows plenty of specific examples, and he has already plugged in the specifics on the fly.